For the first time a new project is uncovering the journeys of one of the UK’s most internationally important migratory bird species, the Bar-tailed Godwit.<br />Hundreds of thousands of these long-legged and long-billed wading birds pass through the UK each year on migration, spotted in their largest numbers along our estuaries between November and February.<br />Despite weighing just 300 grams (the equivalent of half a dozen eggs or two oranges), the Bar-tailed Godwit has one of the longest migrations of all birds. Last year, one Bar-tailed Godwit set a new world record with a non-stop flight from Alaska to southern Australia over just 11 days.<br />Now, conservationists are seeing how our native counterpart compares, with GPS tagging shedding new light on where these birds travel and the vital role that England’s East Coast Wetlands – a potential Natural World Heritage Site - play in their survival.
